Rescued Nepalese children returned to families

On the 17th March 2017 ChoraChori brought 33 trafficked and displaced Nepalese children back to Nepal. See this link. Working in conjunction with Nepal’s Central Child Welfare Board, we freed them from captivity in dreadful conditions at two children’s shelters in Bihar, north India. Since then we have been conducting basic medical checks on the children and, where necessary, providing essential medical care. We’ve also been finding out more about the children’s circumstances and how they ended up in India. And this past week we’ve successfully reunited the first nine of the returnees with their families.

Nepal’s Musahar community – the rat-catchers

These first nine children are from the Musahar caste. This word means “rat-catcher” or “rat-eater”. This caste lies within the “untouchable” community and the Musahar population straddles the border between India and Nepal. See this description of the Indian Musahar from Wikipedia. The 2014 Nepal census records 234,490 Musahar as living in Nepal. Their name stems from the belief that the people were so poor that they caught rats for food. That may not longer be the case but the Musahar still lead tough lives and experience terrible discrimination. As untouchables they are kept at the margins of society and may not share the same space as higher caste people. They undertake the most menial work and that includes, like their Bihari counterparts, going to north Indian States to find agricultural labour.

Caught in a trap

The nine children we returned to their homes in Siraha District told us of how, ironically, Musahar children find themselves in a trap. They have to attend separate schools, segregated from other children. Their school offered classes only up to the 5th grade. Further education would have involved transfer to a mixed caste school and that wasn’t allowed. So in desperation the children set off as a group to work in a pizza shop in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Relatives who were working there already promised them a salary of 5,000 Indian rupees (£60) per month. The children left home with their parents’ permission but en route the Indian police intercepted them. The authorities placed them in Darbhanga children’s shelter where ChoraChori eventually rescued them.

Now these reunited children have no interest in education – it’s not available anyway. Instead they want to find work in Nepal or, when they are older, as migrant labour in the Middle East. One of the nine even wants to return to India once his citizenship papers are complete. However bleak their prospects in life might be, at least these Nepalese children have the chance of a fresh start after their appalling experience as captives at Darbhanga children’s shelter.

Child trafficking

We are still researching the circumstances of the other rescued Nepalese children. Already there seems to be a significant child trafficking element involved. For obvious reasons we’ll not share anything on this while our investigations are underway. Also, two children are runaways from a Buddhist monastery in south India. They allege that they were being thrashed by the monks. This is not the first time that we have come across this allegation arising from a most unlikely place and this too requires our further research.

ChoraChori in the Nepali Times

Yesterday the Nepali Times published a powerful report on our joint operation with the Central Child Welfare Board. You can read this article and view the associated film by clicking on the image to the left.

Support one of the best small charities for Nepalese children!

It’s as easy as clicking the button below. And just now we badly need your support to allow our vital work to continue. We have to rescue, rehabilitate and reunite many more Nepalese children from India. And there’s so much follow up required from this operation alone, including finding Nepalese child traffickers.

Donations can be made in through this secure system and in any major currency (BT MyDonate back converts £ donations into the donor’s own currency). And if you are a UK taxpayer Gift Aid can be added on automatically. U.S. donors can make tax efficient donations through GlobalGiving. Many thanks!

ChoraChori returns first group of rescued Nepalese children to their families March 25th, 2017Philip Holmes

The lost children of Nepal

The ChoraChori child rescue team needs your help!

The ChoraChori child rescue team is currently on a mission to retrieve more lost children of Nepal from India. Our colleagues went there to rescue 18 trafficked and displaced children from a children’s home in Bihar. But out of the blue the authorities have invited them to repatriate a further 14 Nepali kids from a second home. We urgently need your help. Read more:Read more

Nepal Child Sponsorship

This month ChoraChori is launching a new Nepal child sponsorship scheme in support of the children at our Kathmandu refuge.

Why we need child sponsorship

The ChoraChori Kathmandu refuge is central to our unique child rescue programme which is bringing Nepal’s displaced and trafficked children back home to a positive future. At the refuge we offer the kids in our care the security they deserve after all the hardships and isolation they’ve experienced in India. However the care costs are daunting for a small charity such as ours. So we’d like to interest you in becoming a “Friend of the Refuge” who can underpin our very special work. In return for your kind sponsorship we will send you a six-monthly update each June and December that will explain the impact of your gift.

Sponsorship levels to suit everyone

We have set our Nepal child sponsorship at four levels with donations pooled to meet the following needs:

£5 per month – a “savings” sponsorship. We will give each child at the refuge an individual “savings book”. At the end of every month we will credit that book with an equal share of the total savings sponsorship income. These savings then becomes the child’s when he or she leaves the refuge.

£10 per month – a “recreation” sponsorship funds activities such as sport, outings and celebrating festivals

£20 per month – an “education” sponsorship will cover the cost of books, stationery, uniforms, school fees etc

15% of sponsorship income will cover ChoraChori’s programme management costs. These include, for example, the cost of providing sponsors with the regular update that will be exclusive to Friends of the Refuge. We can accept Nepal child sponsorship in any major currency and you can pay it monthly, quarterly or as an annual lump sum. We are very happy to accept any combination of sponsorship options up to the total cost of care for one or more children.

Child protection is vital

Please note that while we wish to enjoy a close relationship with Friends of the Refuge, the protection and welfare of the children will remain paramount. Many Nepal child sponsorship schemes foster direct relationships between sponsors and children and this is not necessarily in the best interests of either party. Our approach ensures that the sponsorship scheme benefits all of the children and that no child feels left-out.

What to do next

To sign up as a Friend of the Refuge just click the button below and complete the form with the appropriate amount. Then leave us a personal message as to which aspect of our work you’d like to sponsor. Please note that the very nice people at BT MyDonate provide this as a free service. They charge only the unavoidable credit card processing fee of 1.3% or a fixed £0.15 for each debit card transaction. If you are a UK taxpayer BT will reclaim the Gift Aid for us, again free of any commission charge. For non-UK citizens, although a donation has to be recorded on the form in £, BT will convert this back into your home currency for your debit/credit card account.